Ace Hotel New York

18062010

Alryt, this is my first post to catch up with my long list of backlog entries 🙂

When we were still planning for the NY trip, I was looking for a hotel in the Manhattan area and is within walking distance of most of the good spots in the City. I know there are lots of good hotels even outside Manhattan but let’s just say hubby and I are really playing touristy. At first, I was inclined to book at Affinia Manhattan which, by the way, is just in front of Madison Square Garden. If Affinia is not available, my second choice was Vincci Avalon. On a side note, I saw Affinia in NY and I still think it’s a lovely hotel. It’s just beside Macy’s!!! 🙂 Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see Vincci Avalon. It looks good in the pictures though 🙂

I showed the pictures to hubby and while these hotels look good in pictures and have good reviews, it kinda felt like we are still looking for something else. It’s more like a feeling of wanting to feel NYC in every detail of it, even in the place we sleep in. And so we created a mental list of things that describe NYC and the common denominator we got was “Hip.”

Ace Hotelis a boutique hotel chain founded in Seattle, Washington whose headquarters is currently in Portland, Oregon. There are four boutique hotels being operated by Ace Hotel (the two others are in New York and Palm Springs). The chain was founded in 1999 by Alex Calderwood who, apparently, was also the founder of a retro hip barbershop in Seattle known as Rudy’s (you’ll see Rudy’s in the pics later).

Now, Ace Hotel New York is formerly known as Hotel Breslin which is housed in a 1904 building in Middle Manhattan. From the outside, the building looks old. But then again, it’s what is inside that makes everything perfect.

Here are some of the reviews online about Ace Hotel New York that made us click on that “RESERVE NOW” button 🙂

The bed was INCREDIBLY comfortable, and the bathroom was a good size, with really nice toiletries. We also ordered room service one night — it comes from the kitchen of The Breslin, downstairs — and it was bar none the best room service I’ve ever had. If hanging out with your laptop in the lobby, drinking (delicious, Stumptown) coffee and talking about Coachella sounds like your scene, you will probably love the Ace.

When you are too exhausted to hit the town, you actually don’t have to leave the hotel lobby or restaurant – there are tons of people around all the time, the bar is cool, the food is great, and the atmosphere is very hip and happening.

I very much enjoyed my stay at the Ace as I felt like a traveller, not a tourist, and wanted something different, more authentically New York for this is my third visit to NYC. The staff was very welcoming and friendly and the accommodation was easy to like.

The room was a good size with a huge bed! The room consisted of a Smeg fridge which was very well stocked up, TV, Radio with ipod connector, kettle, mugs (but no tea bags or coffee so you may want to bring your own), hairdryer, bathrobes, aircon. The bathroom had lovely large bottles of shampoo, conditioner and shower gel. Maids came everyday to change towels etc. There was imacs and ice machines on alternative floors. The lobby was buzzing with a good atmosphere, great coffee shop too!

We believed the reviews and proved them to be true 🙂 If I were to describe Ace Hotel New York, I’d say it’s HIP, FUNKY, VIBRANT, CREATIVE, FUN.

When we entered the hotel, we were welcomed by what seemingly looks like a library in Harvard or somewhere. People are seated on the sofas, some in the library desks, but each one armed with a laptop and a cup of coffee. It’s not so crowded in the day time but at night, even on a weeknight, there’s a long line outside of people wanting to get inside.

hotel lobby

Upon the door to the right is the front desk. It’s hard to know who the members of the staff are because they don’t have uniforms and everyone inside just dresses up so nicely. It’s so hard to spot who to talk to except for the people we found at the front desk who we presumed are working for Ace Hotel 😛 I heard Converse styles their clothes.

front desk

While waiting for our keys, my eyes wandered around the lobby. As I said, Ace Hotel is for people who are on the go and full of energy. The flowers toned it down a bit. It gave me a feeling that while there’s a lot of happening going on, the place can still be enjoyed by the romantics.

flowers made the lobby a little romantic

There are a lot of interesting pieces mounted on the wall. This one shows some of the stuff you can see inside your room but can’t bring home. Fortunately, you can buy them as souvenir from your stay in Ace Hotel 🙂

see those bottles? they're Rudy's shampoo and conditioner. love 'em!

Their staff is the best. Very cheerful and accommodating. Then again, it’s hard to know who they are because they’re dressed up like guests. Front desk told us to wait for someone to take our bags and this guy came, fashionably dressed, doesn’t look like he’s from the Concierge or something, and he picked our bags. I was like, “okay, he’s not a guest!” And we were on our way to the room.

room key case

our keys

When we reached the fifth floor, the elevator opened up and showed us the huge directions on the wall 🙂 It was like “whoa!” but fun. At least, you wouldn’t get lost finding your way around the hotel, right?

smart way to give directions in and around the hotel

Room 500 is the very first room you’ll see after hopping off the elevator. Now let’s see what’s inside.

Without turning our heads, this is the very first thing I saw as it was just straight in front of the door. I thought, “aww, what kind of view do we have here?” But as I walked towards the window and looked out from it, it suddenly gave me the feeling that I’m just living in well-designed apartment in New York. Made me happy 🙂

ice, coffee, manual

I’m not sure if you read the hotel manuals and stuff but I do. However, most of them are boring and they are so formal you wouldn’t bother going past the “Welcome Guest” part. But Ace Hotel’s manual, trust me, is a fun read. The manual itself is so cool, I wanted to bring it home 🙂

they call it The ACE Survival Guide

As I said, directly opposite the window is the door. Turning around, I had a good look of it. It looks very sturdy 😛 It should be, it’s a metal door. I was looking for the “do not disturb” sign and was like, it’s not here. Of course it is. It’s a magnet. See that? That “not now” thingie, dumbwit?

metal door

I noticed the door to the left and went inside. Ah, it’s the bathroom. It’s clean and neat but it’s for tall people 😦 Like my feet don’t touch the floor when I sit on the bowl 😦 Nah, I didn’t take pics of the bowl. Instead, I’ll show you these.

Everything inside the bathroom is plain white. It’s actually bare with only the essentials hanging on the wall. I kinda like that idea. I realized my bathroom is cluttered.

hair dryer

Rudy's products. No.1 is the shampoo. No. 2 is the conditioner. No. 3 is the body wash. Too bad, I can't take them home 😦

The sink, by the way, is not inside the bathroom. Not sure if that works well with you. But as for me, someone who craves for that New York feel, I love the idea of having the sink inside the bedroom.

the sink. gotta love that whole body mirror too!

complimentary soap 🙂

Moving around, we saw that they have robes for use. But you can also buy them in case you get comfy in them. They’re just a bit pricey IMHO. They’re like $150 each. *shrugs*

just how creative can they get with the price tags

Beside the robes are the hangers. Didn’t really give much attention to it and looked at the other things inside. Then it hit me that it looked like there’s something written on the hangers, so I went back to take a second look. The hanger says “You Look Good In That.” That’s so sweet. And I noticed the wall. They tore up pieces from Harrap’s Shorter French and English Dictionary and used them as wall paper 🙂 Cheap but chic!

that is so sweet of you, hanger!

Next thing we checked out was the freebies. Sorry to say but apart from these, I don’t think there’s anything else that you can take home with you, for free.

Sure enough, we got notepads, and pencils, and yah, even the maid’s tip envelopes where I put the nickels in. But what sets Ace Hotel apart is the fact that it gives out music sheets. Gah! Music sheets! From that moment on, believe me, hubby blurted, “this hotel rocks.” Suddenly, I’m transformed into this imaginary rock star who hides away from the probing eyes of the public and stays inside a very confidential room in Ace Hotel to write songs. Gosh, Ace Hotel is so artistic and brings out the artist in you. Yup, we brought the music sheets home with Bed of Roses playing in our ears 😉

scribble away

I’m not so sure if these are free too but we didn’t get charged for them so I guess they are. But they’re among the things in a price list of goodies and we wouldn’t have touched them had we bought water from CVS. These are so expensive, like they’re $3-3.50 a bottle and we consumed two. Yikes.

love the bottles

This one is also cool. I think you can use it for multiple purposes but at the state we saw it, it contains the blanket if you’re feeling very cold. We regulated the temperature though so it stays warm inside. What we did was we took out the blanket and put all our dirty clothes in there so they don’t mix with the clean ones inside our bags. When the clothes are all dirty, that’s the time we packed them up 😛

love the print

Entertainment in Ace Hotel is never a worry. It’s in the middle of good spots. Another thing, you don’t have to go out to have entertainment. Go down to the lobby, that is one heck of a buzzing place. Inside the room, we got this.

lol we didn't watch Adult TV 😛

Now if those above haven’t met your expectations yet, try this. For us, this is the most creative presentation ever. Ladies and gentlemen, look at our fridge. This is the epitome of hipness 🙂 teehee

when everything else is Made In China, these goodies are the exceptions. I didn't find anything Made In China here. Yah, even the noodles.

hold on a sec, there's something inside the Rations box

genius idea to cover a mini-ref!

I know, I know. The only thing missing is the picture of the bed. Let me tell you that if there’s one consistent review about Ace Hotel, it has got to be their comfortable beds. And pillows! Who would have thought I’d get the best sleep of all time in the buzzing and noisy city of New York?! The key is comfy bed + pillows. Unfortunately though, I can’t post it because I just realized that I don’t have a pic of the bed without me or hubby or us both on it. And I vowed not to post any of our pics again in my blog. *it’s an anonymity thing*

I’m sure the things I showed you are more than enough to cover up for the missing bed picture.

Hey, I’m not from Ace Hotel *helleour*! I’m not promoting it. I’m not even a qualified writer of hotel reviews. These things are just my own way of expressing how satisfied hubby and I were with the kind of experience we had in NYC. True, a hotel shouldn’t be a priority when you’re on a budget as most probably, you won’t be staying inside the hotel all the time anyways. Then again, it’s a different story when you spend a little more than ordinary to experience something beyond extraordinary. It makes all the travel worth it.

Ace Hotel New York is located in 20W. 29th Street, more like 29th Street cor. Broadway. It’s a tumbling away from Madison Square Garden, Macy’s and Penn Station. We also walked to Times Square and Empire East from the Hotel. Maybe a little far for some, but really, it’s a short sweet walk for us.

Here’s an idea of how much their rates are (approximately):

Bunk Beds – US$269/night

Cheap Full and Cheap Queen – US$299/night

Small Full, Small Queen and Small King – US$359/night

Medium Full, Medium Queen and Medium King – US$399/night

Medium Double Double – US$459/night

Large King – US$509/night

Large Double Double – US559/night

Loft – US$979/night

You can follow Ace Hotel’s BLOG for updates and see just how hip it is even online.